Chapter 83

In the end, Clarette accepted Lionel’s suggestion after much hesitation.

When she finally felt the cold and shivered slightly, he took out a clean handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. Lionel watched as Clarette wiped her wet face and body, then asked,

“How did you manage to find me? I’d already left the path, so following the blue ribbon wouldn’t have helped at all.”

“Pepper found you. At first, I wandered a bit in the forest, but when I told her to take me to her master, she immediately knew the way.”

Clarette smiled proudly as she glanced at Pepper, who had taken shelter under the tree from the rain. Meanwhile, Lionel looked at her with admiration.

He had expected her to wait quietly in the stands, anxious and restless, but she had ridden out herself to rescue him. Lionel wanted to pull Clarette into his arms and use gratitude as an excuse to kiss her right away.

But Clarette spoke in a calm tone.

“All the contestants returned after seeing the smoke signal, except for you and that young contestant. Eventually, Jeremy came back late, but…”

This was something Clarette had heard from Jasmine. She had forgotten all about her conversation with Thiago and rushed to where people were gathered.

Among the contestants discussing what to do, someone expressed concern with a dark expression.

“Hearing that, I just couldn’t stay still.”

Clarette murmured, furrowing her brow slightly. The thought of Lionel dying or being disabled had made her rush to Pepper without thinking.

Meanwhile, Lionel shook his head, half-amused.

“I shouldn’t have taught you to ride. If I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have risked coming after me.”

Clarette laughed softly and corrected his thinking.

“It’s actually the opposite, Lionel. I’m really glad you taught me to ride. Otherwise, I would have forced myself onto a horse I couldn’t control and charged into the woods.”

No matter the circumstances, Clarette would never have been able to sit still without finding Lionel.

He reaffirmed to himself that he must keep this woman by his side for life.

Clarette looked worriedly at the blood stains on Lionel’s clothes and nearby, then asked,

“But, how did this happen? Did Blackjack really get shot?”

“Yes. While I was riding, a bullet came from somewhere. Luckily I wasn’t hit, but the stray bullet went through Blackjack’s neck…”

As Lionel spoke, he suddenly felt a sense of discomfort and stopped. He carefully recalled the moment when Blackjack was shot.

Was it really just a stray bullet?

If Jeremy hadn’t approached Lionel at that moment, and if Blackjack hadn’t stepped back, the bullet would have pierced Lionel’s abdomen, not the horse’s neck.

‘Of course, it could all be coincidence.’

If not, it was clearly an attempted murder. Lionel’s smile slowly faded.

Who? Why? He was pondering unpleasant possibilities when—

“Could it be that it wasn’t an accidental shot… but someone was actually targeting you?”

Clarette, reading Lionel’s expression, cautiously offered her opinion.

“For example, Earl Crowley.”

Lionel paused at the name she suddenly brought up.

Aside from Jeremy, the other eight contestants and their servants were all suspects, with more than ten possible candidates. Yet Clarette mentioned Richard with a strangely confident look.

Lionel sensed there was something between Clarette and Richard that he didn’t know, and asked quietly,

“Do you have any reason to suspect him?”

“There’s no solid evidence. Just…”

Clarette answered carefully, trying not to misspeak.

“Remember when Earl Crowley argued with you in the ducal residence’s tea room? That day, I met him in the hallway, and his expression was just… so gloomy and frightening.”

What kind of expression had she seen? Lionel looked at Clarette’s uneasy face and spoke cautiously.

“Of course Richard was in a bad mood that day. It was the first time since childhood he’d argued with me. But after that, we talked well. And he spoke positively about this business, too.”

“I see. Maybe I was just being suspicious. Honestly, you probably know Earl Crowley better than I do.”

Clarette sighed shallowly, as if wanting to shake off her suspicions about Earl Crowley. Lionel looked at her worried face and gently held her hand.

“Don’t worry too much about this, Clarette. Accidental shootings happen often in hunting grounds.”

Of course, even as he said that, Lionel hadn’t completely dismissed his suspicions about others. He just wanted to prevent Clarette from suspecting Richard.

Richard was a man with a strong desire for recognition and keen awareness. If he found out Clarette suspected him as the culprit, he’d be deeply offended and hold a grudge against her.

Whether Richard had actually shot Lionel or not.

‘Clarette doesn’t need to bear that risk.’

It was his job, not hers, to investigate and face the enemy. As Lionel looked at Clarette’s profile, he felt a sense of responsibility.

Suddenly, a loud horse’s cry rang out nearby. It was a cry full of pain, almost like a death wail.

Lionel hugged Clarette’s trembling shoulders and listened silently. The sound was coming from the direction where Blackjack had run.

“Is it Blackjack?”

“Probably.”

Clarette asked nervously, and Lionel replied bitterly. Pepper, standing nearby, began to stomp anxiously.

Soon, the horse’s cries faded completely, drowned out by the rain.

Lionel felt Clarette’s hand, which was holding his, trembling. Somewhere out of their sight, Blackjack had died.

“Duke, do you think Blackjack is dead? Maybe he’s still alive, I should go check…”

“Don’t.”

Lionel firmly gripped Clarette’s shoulder and spoke coldly.

“Even if you go, you can’t save him. You’ll only see something terrible.”

“But…”

Clarette lowered her gaze with a sad expression.

“A death like that is just too pitiful.”

Lionel silently agreed. Once the rain stopped, he intended to collect Blackjack’s body and make a grave for him—his precious horse who had died unintentionally in his place.

But then, Lionel realized that Blackjack’s cause of death might not have been the gunshot.

The large bush he’d been watching suddenly shook violently. Clarette, startled again, grabbed Lionel’s hand.

For a while, there was noisy movement as if a careless wild animal had jumped into the bush. Listening to the mysterious sound, Lionel slowly released Clarette.

As he reached for the hunting rifle beside him, the thing rummaging in the bush burst out toward them.

It was a large, light-brown hunting dog, its head reaching an adult man’s waist. The dog was muscular and sturdy for a hunting dog, with short, blunt black muzzle that looked strong and powerful.

“L-Lionel…”

But Clarette clung to his collar in fear, not just because of the dog’s size.

The dog’s face and chest were covered in blood, as if it had just finished tearing something apart and taking its life.

The hunting dog, shaking its body in the rain, soon locked eyes with Lionel.

Had he seen this dog somewhere before? As Lionel felt a sense of deja vu, the dog growled low, baring blood-soaked teeth.

“Clarette. Don’t move suddenly, stay carefully behind me.”

Lionel commanded concisely, taking out his pistol instead of the rifle. The moment he aimed the gun, the excited dog charged at them.

Clarette pressed her face against Lionel’s broad back and squeezed her eyes shut.

As tension surged, his body became rigid and taut, and a loud gunshot rang out. Startled, Clarette clung tightly to Lionel’s waist.

Moments later, she felt his hand gently caressing hers and opened her eyes.

Lionel, now relaxed, glanced back at her.

“It’s over, Clarette. It’s safe now.”

Clarette slowly released him and peeked forward to check the situation.

The big dog that had charged at them was dead, shot precisely in the head. Bright red blood from the gunshot wound slowly spread in the rainwater puddle.

“You must have been scared. But you did well, following my instructions…”

Lionel smiled and praised her, and Clarette breathed a deep sigh of relief, burrowing into his arms. She had been so anxious.

Just like with Blackjack, she feared she might lose Lionel in this forest.

Meanwhile, Lionel gladly opened his arms and embraced her. He was pleased that Clarette, having relaxed, entrusted herself entirely to him.

He wanted her to know that nowhere was safer than in his arms.

At that moment, the sound of horse hooves walking leisurely came from beyond the bush where the hunting dog had appeared. The two quickly separated and watched that direction. Lionel grabbed his pistol again.

The man who appeared, riding a brown horse, was Richard Crowley. He looked back and forth between the fallen hunting dog and the two under the tree, then spoke in relief.

“I’m glad, Duke. You’re alive.”